Pipe sewer rod



. Feb. 27, 1940. A. P. KJERULFF PIPE SEWER ROD Filed Feb 19, 1936 "9./Eliii? l B m J cleanly and with less trouble.

Patented Feb. 27, 1 Q Q PATENT OFFICE i This invention relates to.improvements in pipe 1 and sewer rods, especially on. the pipe and sewerrod disclosed in Patent 1,858,509 015 May 17, .1932, to Anton P,Kjerulfi, ..and its'obj'ects are. as

followsz I I First, to. provide a cleaning device which will.adaptitself to variations in" the pipemore. easily than. other cleaningdevices of a similarnatur, particularly in. more easily turning bends,and

I contacting thewall's of the pipe more-closely so that obstructionsarealoosened and removed more Second, toincludein the flexible'rodmembera; stiff pilot spring which; serves to lead the cute ter'memberaround'bends, said pilot spring also carrying a coupling member to.which aconvene Third, to. makethe cutter member in a tapered bladeformation,,the-tubular end; pieces, or sleeves to which the ends/ofthebla'de'sare secured being providedwith prongs forcatching; roots'andother; obstructions; ,.Fqurth, tov provide thecleaning device with shortbufier springs to cushion theshocks in the operationof the cuttermember. I Inthe'drawing: y Figurelis a side elevation:oftheimproved pipeandsewer rod. I i

Figure 2. is a longitudinalsection taken on-the line',2-2 of Fig.1. I IFigure '3 is a long udinal section taken onv the line, 3 3. of Fig. 1. I

-, Figureiis a cross section section taken on the line 4-4 v of Fig. 1.,

a modified conat- 4. (Fig.2) to a sleeve. or casting 5,. which isrecessed at 6 to contain the end 3.

A. threaded nipple 8 made integral with the casting 5,v (Fig. 2.) isscrewed. into. one end of] the pilot 2; the convolutionsof thev latterproviding complementary threads; After the two partsare screwed'togetherthey are permanently secured as, by welds 9. Thejcastingiis thus.rigidly held in. place. intermediately oi the rod. l and pilot 2) serveto permanently Figure 5: is a detailed cross "section taken on.

2 of the flexible rodinember, servingas connecting means for the rod andpilot.

II cutter member Ht is ."slid'ably mounted on the rod member. It iscomposed of a plurality of blades ,l I which are attached at their endsto tubular end piecesor sleeves l2, l3. constituting two. spaced bearingpoints for said member, in

such a manner that the cutter member is generally elongated and hasatapered blade. formation. Each. blade is. of a. helical shape,v makingone complete turn around the. flexible rod member, be-

ginning. at the sleeve 12 and ending. at the sleeve I13; orvilce versa.The opposite edges of each the. remote spring blade ends andarourid thesleeves l2, l3, whence they extend in opposite d1:-

rections, and have loose contact with the -rod I and pilot 2. .Thesleeves l2; l3 are'also loose'on the rod-; member; Those parts of thesprings i5,

16- that are wrapped around the spring blade endsaid securing said.ends, but welds H (Fig.

other of thesleeves i2, 13- as the implement is wielded in the pipe.These sleeves, further; are

used to enable. the operator to pull cut roots and other obstructionsout, and forthis purpose they have pointsior prongs l8, la The pilot 2'is capableof use as a mount for a conventional sewer rod head I 9 shownin broken lines. in Fig. 3.

connect the parts. men.-

I blade, i]. are sharpened. as at. M (Fig. 5.). so. as to moreeffectively cut throughv pipe (not shown).v

A' coupling member 20 has a'threadeclv nipple 25 I (Fig. 3) that isscrewed into the convolutions of the pilot spring 2. The connection ismade per manent. by welds 22. The coupling member 29 has holes 23through which the securing, bolts 2d are passed, the latter also.passingthroughthe sleeve end 25 of the head. l9.

Figure 6 illustrates a modification which is almost identical withFig. 1. The cutter member Hlehas sharpenedblades I i as before, theopposite ends of these being secured to pronged sleeves. [2 [3. whichare loosely and slidabl'y type shown in Fig. 2; it isnow made in theform I of a sleeve which is slid upon the rod member to the desiredposition and secured there by a set screw 21. The casting 5 may bepositioned wherever desired along the flexible rod member, and thecutter member it will be positioned accordingly, the casting beingcentered with respect to the cutter member just as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 illustrates a further modification which chiefiy'concerns theconnecting means between the sewer rod 28 and spring pilot 29. Thelatter is to be considered substantially the same as the pilot 2 in Fig.1, and now both ends are made alike. There will be a coupling memberlike 20 on the right end (not shown) of the spring29,

and at the left end it has a similar element 30.

ber (as in Fig. 1), and to the better make engagement with the sleevesI2, l3 whenfunctioning as an abutment.

The operation is as follows:

The cleaning device, whether of the formin Figs. 1, 6 or 7, is projectedinto the pipe to be cleaned, whereupon the rod l is pushed or pulledwith a hammer or battering ram action when the obstruction is reached.The abutment means which the castings 5, 5 or the center piece 32 afiordwill engage or be gripped by one or the other of the sleeves, and indoing so will tend to elongate the blades of the cutter member, reducingthe diameter of the cutter member so that it can be worked into andthrough the 'obstruce tion. In this respect emphasis is laid on thespecial shape of the cutter blades. As shown in the drawing and aspreviously stated, eachblade} makes one complete turn from end to: end.

When rounding a curve, for instance in an elbow, the inside blade willbe compressed and elongated, thereby tilting the sleeves l-Z, I3 towhich the blade ends are attached and thus setting said sleeves toconform to the curve.

The frictional contact of the cutter member Ill, Ill either with thewalls of the pipe or-with the encountered obstruction will cause thecutter member to turn automatically by virtue of its tapered and helicalformation thereby cutting into the obstruction. After the obstructionshave been loosened the prongs I8, 18* will catch them and enable theoperator to pull them out of the pipe. The flexible pilot 2 (Fig. 1)feels out the obstruction and guides the cutter member into the workingposition. Special emphasis is laid on the automatic screw action of thecutter member which is obtained by the sharp angle of the blades.However, there are times when the cut-v ter member i0 can be held fixedupon the rod member I, 2, and this function is achievedby pulling orpushing'hard enough upon the tool at the operators en-d. At such a timethe socket (Fig. 2 which the flaring prongs I8 (or IB forms, cups theabutmentmember 5 or the equivalents, and exercises a grip thereupon asex-E plained'. The bufier springs l5, l6 both cushion the shocks whenworking the cutter member it! back and forth, and also prevent t'he tubefrom hanging up in the sewer, said buffer springs slip ping off of anysharp edges that might be struck in going around bends in the pipe, orat a place I where a small pipe enters alarger one. In the last instancethere is bound to be a large obstruction which, virtually, is a solidWall against which a tool, made otherwise than herein shown,

can easily be locked. But by having the bufier,

springs l5, 16 in advance of the sleeves l2, l3

the free end of one or theother of these springs will strike theforegoing obstructions, the convolutions nearestto 'saidpbstructionbending and tilting 'until the entire pring slipsbfi.

I claim: 1

1. A pipe cleaning device comprising a sewer rod, a stifi coil springpilot, a cutter commonly and slidably mounted on the sewer rod and coilsprin .,,pilot,- and means joining said. rod and pilot within theconfinesof the cutter to limit. I

pilot. I I

2. A pipe celaningdevice comprising a flexible yrod member, .a cuttermember loosely carried v thereon, said cutter member consisting,-jo'fz aplurality of helical blades ar'ound'the r'od'member and sleeves'rotatably andslidably. mounted on the rod member to which the ends of.the

blades'are secured, single abutment means car-.

ried by the; rod member medially of saidsleeves sudden thrust in eitherdirection of the'rod member to hold the cutter member stationary on'thepoints, a rod member on which the cutter member is slidably mounted,means on the rod mm- "the sliding motion-of said cutter on the rod and 1J .totransmitmotion from the ;rod.member'to the i cutter member, andmeans on the sleeves to-grip the abutment means upon theapplicationofatil ber situated'medially" of said hearing pointsby whichto abut and transmitmotionto the" cutter member; and a-bufier "springsecured to ea'chend of the cutter memberand surrounding the rod member,the remote convolutions "of's'aid: springs being exposed to pipeobstruction to 'absorb shocks in operating the cleaning devicei f 4. Apipe cleaning devicecomprisingjacutte member, a rod member on which thecutter mem ber is slidably mounted,'said rod member includ-] ing a sprinpilot and a flexible rod,'jabutni entmeans mounted on the rod member,and sleeves forming parts of said cutter member, said sleevesconstituting spaced bearing points for the cutter member on said rodmember,-the abutment means being situated mediallyof said points,

with one of which sleeves the abutment-means is engageable't'o hold thecutter member-in 'sta tionary relationship to the rod-member. 5. A pipecleaning device comprising afiexible rod member, a sleeve on the rodmemberwith; meansfto fixthe sleeve in position. on said rod member} acutter member which has a plurality of blades each being'helicallydisposed around the rod member and including pron'ged sleevesI to whichjthe ends of the blades are attached sa'id 1 pronged sleevesbeing slidable onthe rod member and engageable e first sleeve, and buifrmeansoarried by the pron'g sleevelswalisofyserv; to secure th which thecutter member is commonly and slidably mounted and having ends meetin'gwithin the confinesof said. cutter member,said spring pilot carrying anelementiwhich overlaps j the end of the sewer rod, a centerpiece ofrelatively means to fix the sleeve in position on said rod member, acutter member-which has aplurality of cutting elements each helicallydisposed around the rod member and including pronged sleeves to whichthe ends of the cutting elements are attached, said pronged sleevesbeing slidable on the rod member and engageable by the first 5 sleeve,and bufler means carried by the pronged sleeves.

ANTON P. KJERULFF.

